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Pence promotes Trump's economic plans in Japan

Apr 21 2017

North Korea has promised "nuclear thunderbolts" and "all-out war", but any conflict between the USA and Kim Jong Un's regime would likely be bloody and result in the near destruction of North Korea, unacceptable civilian losses in South Korea and possibly Japan, and the devastation of U.S. military bases in the region by missile and artillery fire.

Last week, amid tensions with North Korea and the possibility that the North might conduct a nuclear or missile test, USA officials, including the president, had suggested that the U.S.S. Carl Vinson was headed north, toward the Korean peninsula.

Despite North Korea's posturing, the Pentagon says the country's recent missile test failed and resulted in an explosion shortly after launch.

Indonesia is officially secular and most of its 220 million Muslims practise a moderate form of Islam, although the country has some vocal Islamist groups and has suffered in the past from attacks by militants.

"Just as President Ronald Reagan restored the armed forces in his day, so too, President Donald Trump will make the strongest fighting force in the world even stronger still", Pence said.

"China expresses serious concern with recent trends about North Korea's nuclear and missile development", he said.

"We have no schedule of a bilateral meeting either with the USA or China", Yoo said.

"The United States of America will always seek peace but under President Trump, the shield stands guard and the sword stands ready", Pence said, speaking in Japan aboard the USS Ronald Reagan, the Associated Pressreported.

He said the USA would look for changes to make it a mutually beneficial trade deal "as we reform KORUS in the days ahead".

Pence said the North represents the most unsafe and most immediate threat in the Asia-Pacific and President Donald Trump is determined to confront that threat by marshaling unprecedented cooperation with allies in the region, China and the world.

"North Korea is the most risky and urgent threat to the peace and security of the Asian Pacific", he said.

"Pence insisted that the U.S.is finished with the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement".

Behind the heated rhetoric, Trump's strategy in the region looks somewhat similar to predecessor Barack Obama's - albeit with the added unpredictability of a new president who has shown he's willing to use force.

In a news conference, Pence referred to the prospect of the economic dialogue developing into a free trade agreement (FTA) between Japan the United States.

Whether Pence's hardened message will persist as USA policy in the long run remains to be seen.

Pence is in the Asia-Pacific region to visit top officials in Seoul, South Korea; Tokyo; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Sydney for discussions on economic engagement and evolving security challenges.

"The President is determined to keep our promise and I'm very confident that in the days ahead, we're going to see the Congress come together and we're going to take that important first step to repeal and replace Obamacare with the kind of health care plan President Trump has envisioned", he toldCNN's Dana Bash in an exclusive interview Wednesday.

"America has played a certain role in Asia since 1945. that role has in the end of the day been a stabilizer", Delury said.

Pence also said comments from the White House on the whereabouts of the USS Carl Vinson Navy Strike Group were not purposefully misleading.